Kalana Greene Leads UConn Women To Big East Title

Taylor Varga, 14, of Newtown, sings the national anthem before the start of the Big East tournament championship game between UConn and West Virginia at the XL Center.

Taylor Varga, 14, of Newtown, sings the national anthem before the start of the Big East tournament championship game between UConn and West Virginia at the XL Center. (CLOE POISSON / HARTFORD COURANT)

"We have many miniature goals during the entire season," Greene said. "Every championship that's thrown at us, we want to win it."

Two down, one to go.

Tuesday night, the top-ranked Huskies officially became the best team in their conference by defeating No. 9 West Virginia 60-32 in the Big East tournament championship game before 10,040 at the XL Center.

UConn's oldest player, Greene, ended her home career literally dragging the Huskies (33-0) to their 72nd consecutive victory because no one else had the strength to do it.

Greene, 22, finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. She was 7-for-8 from the floor. Tiffany Hayes added 15 points and seven rebounds, and Tina Charles 12 and 10. Maya Moore (4-for-17) had just 10 points.

Liz Repella led West Virginia (28-5) with 10 points. The Mountaineers' biggest problem was their lack of rebounding. The Huskies crushed them on the boards, 54-26.

Still, lethargic were the Huskies. Restless were their fans. Determined to disrupt were the Mountaineers.

"We have to do a better job of handling the things the opponent wants to do to us," Moore said. "They tried to speed us up, and going too fast can mess you up."

But Greene, a 5-10 guard, saved the day with the gumption that will likely make her a first-round pick in the WNBA draft.

And as a reward, she was voted the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Moore, Charles, Repella, WVU's Sarah Miles (1-for-15 with two points in 39 minutes) and Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins made the All-Tournament team.

UConn's third consecutive Big East tournament championship is the 16th in the history of the program. It is the 14th time the Huskies have won both the regular season and tournament titles.

"Different players, a different time, a different way," coach Geno Auriemma said.

All that's left to do now is win the national championship again. And that would be No. 7.

West Virginia, which lost to the Huskies 80-47 in February, played with defensive discipline. And when things are going well, things around them slow down.

Subsequently, both teams struggled offensively.

The Huskies did not score a field goal in the final 3:50 of the first half but still led 30-20 at the break. The half was particularly tough for Moore and Charles.

UConn's All-Americans were just 3-for-17 in the first half; Moore was 2-for-10. That left it up to the perimeter players to compensate, which Hayes (10 points) and Greene (nine) did.

But Moore and Charles made up for their lack of offense by combining for 13 rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

On a number of occasions, Charles was isolated in the high post with the ball, West Virginia daring her to shoot.

"We laid off her a little more and were willing to live off that shot [the jumper] she was going to take," West Virginia center Asya Bussie said.

WVU cut UConn's lead to 33-28 early in the second half.

A few minutes later, however, Charles (5-for-14) finally drained two 15-footers to make it 43-30.

The Mountaineers attempted only five free throws, making two. UConn was 12-for-16 at the line.

"All eight of them [UConn players and the officials] did a good job," West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. "We were stagnant, so stagnant. ... But UConn is big and strong and physical."

UConn outscored the Mountaineers 27-4 in the final 15:31. WVU's only field goal in the last 11:51 came with 28 seconds to play.

"They did it from 2001-03 and [they're] doing it again. It's really unbelievable that they could put those types of streaks together. It's a tremendous credit to the players and to the coaches. With the team they have now, I don't see anybody beating them this year."